Lincoln MKT

Comments

And I don't think most bazillionaires in the end give a rat's [non-permissible content removed] (give a rat's [non-permissible content removed]...in the end...) about American workers if there is enough cash in doing it some other way. That's the way they often get to the place where they can order God and his minions around. But then I am just cynical about people who amass fortunes greater than many small countries.

I see by the spy shots appearing that the MKT has been made much more conventional looking compared to the concept. I know that some of you will celebrate that (jeyhoe for example), but I am disappointed that the bustle back now looks more like the back of a station wagon, and the back seat door cutouts have lost the elegant look of the concept that was evocative of past Lincolns, and plain station wagon/SUV style side doors have been substituted.

Given that the thing looks a lot more like another tall wagon now, how will this really go over, given the Pacifica/Caddy SRX/Taurus X tall wagon look falls flat with the buying public? Provocative and polarizing is what Lincoln needs, not cautious station wagon styling, which is only jazzed up only a bit with the cow catcher grill. Oh, well, glad I'm not making these decisions. Plus, I can cross this thing off my future shopping list. One of the last things I want is a CUV that more or less blends in with everything else.

Well, OK maybe not THAT bad, but it looks like a combination of a Chrysler 300C and a Toyota Venza. The looks of this thing just DO NOT appeal to me at all. The gigantic cow-catcher grill and the extremely long snout - ugh. I was hoping this would be a nice looker, but like the Flex it appears to be another "polarizing design" from the team that knows how to produce them.

The grill is about the only thing they did right. In case you haven't noticed, the trend is now away from anonymous and/boring little grills. Everyone screamed when Audi adopted its bold grill look. Now the complaints have stopped. So I suggest you all get used to bold grills. It is what is selling now. This too will pass.

Meanwhile, the rest of the MKT is boring wagon. Very big too. The wagon-y look has not done well. Stupid buying public response, as SUVs and CUVs are nothing more than tall station wagons with metal bending that makes them look either more butch or more sporty (as if a big heavy tall car can really be sporty). The MKT production model looks designed by committee...dumbed down. Lincoln should know by now that bolder grills don't change perceptions much if the rest of the ride is unremarkable looking (examples being the Navigator, the MKX, changing the grill of the Zephyr/MKZ a couple times). The MKT may have done ok in a better market, but the timing sucks.

Hopefully, Lincoln has some plans other than competent bores like the MKS down the pike. The Concept C (like the Mini but far more useful) would sell in this climate, but even if they are serious, 2013 is probably a realistic sell date, And the world and the ball will have moved a lot more by then. Seems Lincoln can't get a break. No one had any idea how truly truly damaging Bill Ford was to Ford and Lincoln. Had they had the Continental and NaviCross to sell in the early 2000s, they might have a bit more development money now for products that would address current conditions.

One thing is sure...once the economy recovers some (and who knows how long that will take), oil prices will shoot up again. For once in a long time, Ford could be at the forefront of things, if they continue to develop innovations like the Concept C, for Lincoln, and the Fiesta, Ka and Focus for Ford.

We'll see if Ecoboost works well with 4 cylinders...the 3.5 Ecoboost V6 is awfully complex, adds weight and requires AWD (more weight). A good small modern V8 with cylinder deactivation could easily match (or best) both the hp and mpg. Hopefully, the Ecoboosts will be further refined so that mpg continues to climb. Eord has their eggs in this basket now...I really really wish this effort well.

Meanwhile, here we have the MKT...well almost...it is not even for sale until this summer! Maybe it will catch on with former Navi owners...

I do not think Ecoboost is going to be the catchall improvement people are hoping for. It does remain to be seen, but if it were TRULY the life saver for Ford I say it would have been rolled out across the lines. Ford would not be placing it in their luxury segment first and almost exclusively right now if it were really that fabulous. No, I think it will provide modest mpg improvement that will quickly diminish to zero when you stomp the throttle. In short, it sounds to me like a marketing point rather than a substantive change.

So you can drive it normally and get good fuel economy but have the power there when you need it? What's not great about that?

The reason they're debuting the 3.5L first is simple - it was designed as a performance engine first (original name was twinforce) way before gas hit $4/gallon. The fuel economy angle came recently, and it will take time to get the smaller displacement ecoboost engines online. If this was the only thing Ford had to work on they might be able to do it more quickly, but the resources are stretched thin and there were more important things to work on, like the 2010 Fusion Hybrid and Taurus.

I am a former Navi owner (twice). I think the MKT is the ugliest thing I've seen in ages.....and I was really considering it - hoping it would be gorgeous like the MKS. Oh well - it seems to me the FLEX is a bomb, and this looks to be even worse. Maybe I'll be wrong. I drove Lincolns for 16 years, and only quit in 05 when they had nothing left worth driving but the Navigator, and I didn't want another SUV then. I wish I could go back to them, but can't do it with the product they have still. Love the looks of the MKS, but not the little engine that can't.....

And it is a vehicle still for sale. Whoever approved the dumbed-down styling from the concept to the reality of this pig should be embarrassed. And fired. The concept brought to market, despite its controversy, would have done so much better than this boring station wagon with baleen teeth. What the hell did they think was so wrong with the concept? At least it had character and looked like nothing else. It didn't have second row doors that looked like every other station wagon that has ever been. This person/these people got paid good money to make a call that was not even a safe decision...it was just stupid.

Slow day Gregg? I think it's safe to say with Wolff heading a new dedicated Lincoln design group that we won't see a repeat of the MKT styling.

I also think the MKT will be relegated to livery service if it survives and the new MKS will be on a stretched and much better platform. Apparently Wolff was only able to make small changes to the MKZ (other than the grille) so it will be interesting to see how the first clean sheet design looks. But I'm sure it will be worlds better than the MKT.

Yep, it was one of the first Lincoln designs to get 100% unique sheetmetal. The one thing you can say about it is that it's unique.

However, it was still a Lincoln designed by Ford. When they hired Wolff 18 months ago they gave him a new dedicated Lincoln design team. They only work on Lincolns now so I expect the new designs to show that.

I like the MKT - especially after the front rework - the rear is still terrible, but I will get it in white, which seems to mute the effect. With advanced suspension and state of the art active and passive safety equipment - and great comfort, I am looking at one now. I would prefer the FLEX, but the advanced suspension and active safety equipment (lane drift correction) is not available.

I like the rear end. It has some style and a unique look. The side of the vehicle is so generic that it looks like a nondescript station wagon. The front and rear give it some distinction...but not enough.